BORIS Johnson has blocked Labour's bid to hold a vote of no confidence in the Tory government.
Keir Starmer's party planned to table the motion on Tuesday with a vote to follow on Wednesday in the hope of stopping the now caretaker Prime Minister from holding onto his post until September 5, when it has been announced a new party leader will be in place.
But Downing Street has now told Labour they will not give Starmer time in the House of Commons for the debate and vote to go ahead.
A senior Labour source told the Mirror: "The Government is refusing to give us time for a vote of no confidence in the Commons despite all the conventions that this should be granted.
"It's just another example of them ripping up the rules to protect their own side. They're saying the PM is going anyway but they're clearly frightened of losing."
If a vote was to pass, the convention is that Johnson’s government would either resign or seek a General Election.
Defeat for Johnson would've been highly unlikely given the Tories have a 73-seat majority and, since a new leader is on the way, MPs probably wouldn't vote down their own government.
Ten hopefuls are currently seeking to secure the keys to Number 10 but the list is likely to have significantly shorted by 6pm on Tuesday as this is when nominations close and all candidates must have 20 endorsements to proceed to the next stage.
Former chancellor Rishi Sunak is currently the frontrunner in the race with more than 40 supporters. Grant Shapps pulled out of his own leadership bid and chose to back Sunak alongside Dominic Raab.
Penny Mordaunt, Liz Truss and Tom Tugendhat have also hit the required threshold of endorsements.
A Labour spokesperson said: “This clapped-out government is running scared and refusing to allow time to debate Labour’s vote of no confidence motion.
"This is totally unprecedented. Yet again the Tories are changing the rules to protect their own dodgy mates. All the Tory leadership candidates should denounce this flagrant abuse of power to protect a discredited Prime Minister.”
Starmer said that Johnson - who accepted the game was up last week as Tory party leader after an avalanche of resignations - should not be allowed to continue as PM for the next few weeks.
He said: "The Tory party has at last concluded that the Prime Minister is unfit for office, that was blindingly obvious a very, very long time ago.
"He is leaving because his own party has concluded that he can't be trusted.
"They can't now let him cling on for weeks, and weeks, and weeks until September 5. It would be intolerable for the country.
"Since the Tories have failed to act in the national interest, Labour will."
The Prime Minister who illegally shut down Parliament now seeking to stop a democratic vote of no confidence in him. Parliament must be allowed to debate and vote on a no confidence motion in the Prime Minister. That is democracy. https://t.co/IJ7aWqnrTf
— Ian Blackford 🇺🇦🏴 (@Ianblackford_MP) July 12, 2022
Commenting on Johnson's move to block the vote, the SNP's Ian Blackford tweeted: "The Prime Minister who illegally shut down Parliament now seeking to stop a democratic vote of no confidence in him. Parliament must be allowed to debate and vote on a no confidence motion in the Prime Minister. That is democracy."
